AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shrug and twist open the cap of a bottle of water. I take a small sip. My dry throat welcomes the liquid, but we need to ration it for as long as possible. I’ve survived a drought in a desert; we can survive a cell in London.
I nudge Ivy’s calf as she walks by and hold up the bottle for her to take. She scowls and dismisses me. I grunt.You have to drink.
“Fine!” She snatches it from my fingers, takes the tiniest sip, and swills it around her mouth for dramatic effect. “Happy now?” She shakes her head, returning to giving herself a hard time. “I should have known better, but I didn’t think she’d do that.”
You’ve bought us more time. I shrug. For another few days, at least…
“They’re going to kill Seb and Freddie,” she says.
I can’t allow myself to think about them—not now, because I’ll break and give up. Seb and Freddie can fight. They’re always armed. They’ll be fine, won’t they? Still, without Callen, they’re at a disadvantage.
“They’re going to die because of me,” she murmurs. Her face falls, and she slumps down the wall like all the fierce energy has been snuffed out of her. Ivy may have led them into a trap, regardless she had no choice. She picked survival. Freddie and Seb would have made the same choice. “It’s my fault.”
For the first time since my being here, she seems fragile. I can’t allow her fire to be extinguished. I need to relight those flames if we’re going to get through this.
I punch her gently on the shoulder to get her attention.
“What was that for?” she snaps, massaging the spot.
I write a message:
You did what you had to do.
“Will you still say that when your friends die trying to protect me?” Her eyes brim with regret. “Do you want to know what’s worse than dying of starvation?” Her lips purse into a narrow line. “Dying knowing he—Spencer—is still alive. How can he be allowed to live after what he did?” Her small hands curl into fists tightly enough for her knuckle to turn white. “It’s not fucking fair!”
She needs to let her frustration out and work through the process.
“You feel guilty about giving me this life, but none of this is on you,” she admits. “You brought me to Alaric, but I had a choice too. He gave me two options: live a normal life or join them and get revenge. The decision was easy. I chose a life of killing because I couldn’t live without her. Because I wanted to make people hurt as much as I did. I knew it would lead to death, but I would bring them—Spencer and the men that hurt her—down to hell with me.”
I stroke her cheek. Her skin seems to vibrate under my caress. This is the real Ivy Penrose, the girl I rescued from the car wreckage. The one hiding beneath the death and horror. Giving her a second chance at life was my redemption, and I won’t let her down now.
“I’m not like you, Seb, or Freddie,” Ivy says. “I’m twisted like Callen, and I’ve… enjoyed the last five years. Killing people wasn’t just a job. It’s been my life and purpose. What does that make me?”
Someone fucked up and in need of help.
I hastily write:
That used to be me too.
“That’s different. You were in the army,” she dismisses. “You were fighting for your country and following orders.”
Is that so different from what you’ve been doing?
“Freddie and Seb look at me like I’m perfect and could do no wrong, but they don’t see the real me. They want to live a fucking fairytale, and…”
She bites her lip, scared to continue.
Go on.I wrap her hair around my finger.You can tell me.
“Maybe a part of me wanted to live in that world for a little while,” Ivy whispers. “Being around them showed me what life could have been like if Spencer hadn’t destroyed my entire world.”
I tip her chin upward and kiss her forehead tenderly. This isn’t the end. It can’t be, not like this…
This time, I’m not saving Ivy from a jealous ex-boyfriend; I’m saving her from herself.
CHAPTER43
SEB
